NFL OUGHT TO SERIOUSLY FOLLOW THE LEAD OF MLB

NFL players and Roger Goodell, take a cue from Major League Baseball in nabbing the drug cheats.

Cooperation between the players’ union and MLB officials led to the crackdown on use of performance-enhancing drugs that’s now playing out.

Baseball players became fed up with the cheaters among them. They spoke out, pushing their union’s leaders to join with commissioner Bud Selig.

Vikings running back and league MVP Adrian Peterson said last month he’s certain that NFL players are using and have used HGH, and that he welcomes the day when the league tests and punishes for it.

Other NFL players should support Peterson. This month, players began giving blood for an HGH population study. By next year, an HGH policy with teeth needs to be in place.

Doping experts such as Victor Conte say HGH can create huge gains in muscle, more so when used with other banned PEDs.

Goodell says he wants a safer sport. He should know that as players become bigger and faster — gargantuan in comparison to, say, three generations ago — their ligaments and cartilage become more vulnerable and collisions more punishing.

The league also should mimic MLB’s policy of announcing the substance when a player tests positive. And since we’re on the topic of players’ health, Goodell’s quest for an 18-game season is at odds with his quest for a safer sport, even if a shorter exhibition season were part of the swap.

Cooper Eagles’ top option.

Riley Cooper is the receiver who last month was caught on video yelling a racial slur after an African-American security guard prevented him from going backstage at a country music concert because he lacked the proper credential.

The Eagles fined Cooper and excused him to leave training camp to seek counseling. Cooper apologized to his teammates, saying he was ashamed and disgusted by his rant.

But hard feelings lingered. It’s not critical that teammates like each other. If a teammate can’t be trusted, however, the team can suffer.

On Cooper’s Wikipedia page, which was changed on Sunday night, it was written that Cooper used the slur “jokingly.”

Nonsense. In the video, Cooper is hostile. After vowing to jump a security fence “and fight every … here,” he swats the hand of a companion who attempts to calm him.

Among those also disgusted by his tirade, Cooper said, were his parents. Cooper said he’d been drinking.

The Eagles need Cooper. He was practicing in the same spot as Jeremy Maclin, the team’s No. 1 receiver who last month suffered a season-ending knee injury. Cooper is used to catching passes from Michael Vick and has knowledge of new coach Chip Kelly’s system. He and the Eagles need to figure out how to make it work.

Raiders NFL’s worst team?

Injuries have blasted a roster that already was among the NFL’s worst.